“Yet the problems haven’t disappeared, even in the middle of Bostic’s old neighborhood. The New Breeds’ former base of operations on West Van Buren has been razed, and the street was quiet on several afternoons recently. But just a few blocks away, at Wilcox and Springfield, men were lined up waiting to help customers. In fact, the pace of drug arrests in the police beat that includes Bostic’s old territory has gone up since his crew was taken down.”

Not surprisingly, Goldblatt parents have serious concerns about the safety of their children as a result of CPS closing Goldblatt—both at Hefferan and on the walk there, as they told reporters when CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett visited recently.

“I’ve been walking through here before, and they start shooting. From here to there, a lot can happen in a little while.”–Goldblatt parent, Tommie Wells

Yet, in the midst of this chaos on the streets, Goldblatt has, nonetheless, managed to provide its students and their families with an academic community. At recent community hearings, parents urged CPS to take into consideration that Goldblatt’s test scores have been on a steady march upward over the last decade.

“I want them to be able to prove themselves. They need to see that next year. They need to see what we’re doing now is going to help us next year; and what we’re doing next year will help us later and we keep moving on. They’re not going to be able to do that if we close our school, or any of the schools over here. It’s too dangerous. We do not need our babies walking around about to get shot because they just want to go to school.” —Karon Khaleel, Goldblatt assistant principal

“Our 2012 school progress report from CPS shows the students’ growth at Goldblatt School was far above average, compared to some of the schools across the nation. In fact, the progress report shows that our students at every grade level surpassed the national average for making expected gains on the district assessment last year. So, it shows our schools are achieving and growing.”–Talisa Walker, Goldblatt parent, LSC member, and alumna

Although CPS claims Goldblatt is underutilized, the principal pointed out at the recent hearing that “unused” rooms are actually used for small-group instruction for enrichment and intervention, indoor recess, a parent resource room, and a band room for their Merit music program. Goldblatt also has both a performing arts teacher and a visual arts teacher. The parent resource room makes it possible for the school to welcome parents needing vocational assistance:

“Goldblatt parents always get the help they need. Many of us go to the school to use the supplies, computers and printers, parent room, so we can conduct job searches.” —Talisa Walker

“What you need to understand is in our culture, when there’s not enough, we don’t quit, and we don’t close. …When our children’s book bags are underutilized, we don’t kick them out, we fill them up. When there’s not enough potatoes, you don’t stop cooking dinner. When there is not enough gas, you don’t give away your car. Goldblatt is not an underutilized building. I’ll say it again, Goldblatt is not an underutilized building. It’s a greatly-utilized school. Don’t get schooling mixed up with the building[…]If you want to see progress, you got to keep our schools open.” —Marcus Brady, Goldblatt security officer